Barak not to join Sharon Cabinet

By Kesava Menon

MANAMA, FEB. 21.Mr. Ehud Barak's prospects of rehabilitation as a leader have been considerably damaged by the political gymnastics he has indulged in since being defeated by Mr. Ariel Sharon in the special Prime Ministerial election held two weeks ago.

On the night of his defeat, Mr. Barak announced he was taking a time-out from politics, then held prolonged discussions with Mr. Sharon on an agreement for a national unity government in which he would be Defence Minister and ``finally'' last night announced that he was indeed getting out of politics for a while. But this seems to be a work in progress and there may be yet more surprises in the coming nine days during which Mr. Barak continues as care-taker Prime Minister.

Mr. Barak's decision of yesterday to revert to his decisions of February 6 to resign from the chairmanship of the Labour party and to give up his membership in Parliament has thrown his party into confusion. Technically, the party should be headed by its secretary general, Mr. Ranaan Cohen, who could lead Labour into a unity government with Mr. Sharon's Likud. But Mr. Cohen is hardly a well-established leader and the party, as well as Mr. Sharon, would be fare more comfortable if a senior statesman like Mr. Shimon Peres was to head the Labour component of the unity government. Mr. Sharon has made no secret of the fact that he wants Mr. Peres as his Foreign Minister.

There is some talk in the Labour party of bestowing a temporary chairmanship on Mr. Peres. But some of the dovish members of the Labour party whose support in the party's central committee is essential for Mr. Peres to get the post are in no mood to form a national unity government. Without a groundswell of support for Mr. Peres' leadership the party seems slated for an internal struggle when the central committee convenes on Monday.

The Parliament Speaker, Mr. Avraham Burg, has already announced his candidacy as has Labour ``hawk'' Mr. Benjamin ``Fuad'' Ben Eliezer. Also waiting in the wings is Mr. Haim Ramon a man with a considerable following in the labour unions.

In ``finally'' rejecting Mr. Sharon's offer, Mr. Barak said that he doubted Mr. Sharon's sincerity since he had not publicly said that only Mr. Barak would be considered for this post. This lack of trust discouraged him from taking up the post since he and Mr. Sharon had divergent views on the peace process and only mutual trust and respect would enable them to get along, Mr. Barak said. It is possible that this was just another display of political naivete by Mr. Barak, a relative late entrant into politics, but his zigs and zags have cost him a lot of respect.

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Section  : International
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